On December 1, 2000, I mailed your office a written request under
the Federal Freedom of Information Act for any information available
regarding a "Report of History of USFS interaction with the Northern
Spotted Owl." This request was placed on behalf of _________.

The FOIA requires your office to respond to a FOIA request within
twenty business days from the date of receipt of such a request. It
appears that this deadline has now elapsed without any response from
your office. I am notifying you that my clients are not at this time
exercising their legal option under the FOIA to file suit to compel
compliance with the time limits of the FOIA. The "spotted owl controversy"
is currently approaching a point where decisions are to be made which
will have major impacts on federal policy regarding the owl as well
as other owl related environmental, economic, and social concerns. Therefore
the public disclosure of the information contained in the Steve Yaffi
report my clients have requested, will illuminate the public's perception
of this very important issue. For this reason, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE
regarding the public disclosure of this report.

My clients do not wish to initiate litigation at this point because
they feel a cooperative approach is better suited to resolving this
situation. Therefore, I am offering to assist your office in any way
possible to facilitate the prompt release of the requested document.
If we may redefine or clarify our request, or answer any questions,
by all means, please let us know.

Please let us know if we can help you in your efforts to publicly
disclose the important information contained in the requested document.
While we do not resort to litigation at this time, because of the time
sensitive nature of the requested document, a legal action may be required
if disclosure is not promptly forthcoming.